Spain Student Visa and Study Stay Authorization: A Guide
Who qualifies, how much money you must show, which insurance works, and where to apply.
A Spain student visa is issued to non-EU students who are admitted to a full-time program and can show €600 for every month of their stay, plus valid health insurance. Most applicants from Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, and the Gulf apply at the Spanish consulate in their country at least 2 months before classes start.
Behind the visa sits a Spanish immigration status called estancia por estudios (study stay authorization). Since May 20, 2025, it has been governed by Royal Decree 1155/2024. Many older guides still miss what changed: who can apply from inside Spain, how much money you need, and which insurance is accepted.
Still choosing a program? Start with our guide to studying in Spain and the admission requirements.
Who can get a study stay authorization
Spain grants long-term study stays for five purposes. University study is one of them; language courses fall under a separate category called "training activities," with stricter rules.
For university study, the program must be at an institution listed in Spain's official registers. The good news: this includes both official degrees (título oficial) and a university's own degrees (título propio), as well as higher vocational programs. You must be enrolled full time, which means at least 90% of the program's credits. University programs can be in person or hybrid.
Age matters too. You must be at least 17 for university study and at least 18 for language courses.
| University program | Spanish language course | |
|---|---|---|
Minimum age | 17 | 18 |
Where the course must be | Institution in Spain's official registers | Escuela Oficial de Idiomas or a school accredited by Instituto Cervantes, in person only |
Length of authorization | Whole official length of the program | Length of the course, max 1 year |
Renewals | Up to 2 times, 1 year each | Only once, and only after passing the course, a DELE exam (or registering for one), or a SIELE certificate |
Apply from inside Spain after entering as a visitor | Possible, under strict deadlines | Not possible, consulate only |
Work while studying | Automatic, up to 30 hours a week | Only with a separate permit |
Switch to a work permit after studies | Yes | No |
The authorization starts 1 month before classes and stays valid 15 days after they end. If it runs longer than a year, you confirm your enrollment (matrícula) at the start of each academic year.
Spain student visa requirements: money, insurance, documents
The financial rule is set in law and tied to IPREM, a Spanish public income index. IPREM is €600 per month, €7,200 per year. You need 100% of IPREM for each month you stay. Tuition fees are counted separately and are not part of this amount.
| Who is coming | Minimum funds for 12 months |
|---|---|
Student alone | €7,200 |
Student + 1 family member | €12,600 |
Student + 2 family members | €16,200 |
Student + 3 family members | €19,800 |
The family amounts add 75% of IPREM for the first family member and 50% for each additional one. Scholarships, grants, and a documented sponsor all count toward the total. If your accommodation is fully prepaid for the whole stay, the living-costs requirement does not apply.
Health insurance is where many applications fail. The insurer must be authorized to operate in Spain, and coverage must match Spain's basic public health package for your whole stay. The Spanish Embassy in Dhaka spells out how consulates read this: medical insurance, not travel insurance, with no waiting periods (carencias), no co-payments (copago), and no coverage limit. Repatriation cover is not mandatory. Foreign policies with a limit are accepted only as an exception, with about USD 500,000 as the benchmark.
Core documents for the visa
- Passport valid for at least 1 more year.
- Admission letter for a full-time program.
- Proof of funds at the IPREM level, or proof of prepaid accommodation, scholarship, or sponsorship.
- Health insurance meeting the rules above.
- Police clearance certificate if you are 18 or older and staying more than 6 months, from every country you lived in over the last 5 years.
- Medical certificate (form RSI 2005), required for the visa application only.
Your country's status under the Hague Apostille Convention decides how official documents are certified. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Bahrain use the apostille. Nigeria, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait are not members, so documents go through legalization: education ministry, then foreign ministry, then the Spanish consulate.
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Where to apply: consulate or inside Spain
The standard route is the Spanish consulate in your country of residence. Applying from inside Spain is possible only for university study and only under tight conditions.
Applying through the consulate
Get your admission letter — the program must be full time and at a registered institution.
Prepare funds, insurance, police clearance, and the medical certificate — start early, as clearances from several countries take time.
Submit at the consulate at least 2 months before classes start — later filing needs a valid reason.
Wait for the decision — the immigration office decides on the authorization within 7 days (no answer means refusal), then the consulate issues the visa within 1 month.
Travel to Spain — the visa itself is valid for up to 1 year.
Apply for your TIE card — if you stay more than 6 months, request the foreigner identity card (TIE) from the police within 1 month of arrival.
Applying from inside Spain
You can file from inside Spain only if you are an adult, you are in Spain legally, and you are enrolling in university-level study. Two deadlines apply at once: at least 2 months before classes start, and at least 2 months before your current legal stay ends. For someone who entered visa-free or on a 90-day Schengen visa, that means filing within roughly the first 30 days after arrival.
You file with the immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería) in the province where you will study — in person, through a representative, or online. Your legal stay is extended while the application is pending. The office has 2 months to decide; no answer means refusal. If your university is in the official higher-education register, it can file for you, and the decision period is 15 days.
Find your programme in 2 minutes
After arrival: work, renewal, and family
University students can work without a separate permit, either employed or self-employed, as long as the job does not interfere with studies. The limit is 30 hours a week; going over it can cancel your stay. You may work only in the autonomous community that issued your authorization, plus border towns in neighboring communities. Mandatory internships in your study plan do not need a work permit. Language course students have no automatic right to work and need a separate permit application.
Renewal is filed online within the 2 months before your authorization expires. Each renewal lasts up to 1 year. If the immigration office does not reply within 1 month, the answer is no, so file early.
Spouses or partners and minor children can join only students in university-level programs. They are not allowed to work in Spain.
After graduation, university graduates can switch to a work residence permit without leaving Spain for a new visa. Graduates at bachelor's level or above can also apply for a permit to look for work or start a business, valid for up to 24 months. Our page on studying and working in Spain covers both routes in detail.
Key dates of your study stay
When the authorization starts, how to keep it and when to renew
1 month before classes
Authorization starts
Your study stay authorization becomes valid 1 month before classes begin.
Start of each academic year
Confirm your enrollment
If the authorization runs longer than a year, you confirm your enrollment (matrícula) every year.
2 months before expiry
File the renewal online
Renewal is filed online in the 2 months before expiry; each renewal lasts up to 1 year.
1 month after filing
Renewal decision
If the immigration office does not reply within 1 month, the answer is no, so file early.
15 days after classes end
Authorization still valid
The authorization stays valid for 15 days after your classes end.
What to know before you apply
Entering as a tourist does not work for language courses. A language course stay can be requested from inside Spain only by someone who already holds residence. Visitors on a visa-free entry or a Schengen short-stay visa must go back to the consulate route. For university study, the in-country window is about 30 days after arrival, so plan this route only if your admission is ready before you travel. We map out both timelines on the first call.
Most public-university programs are taught in Spanish. No law sets a fixed language level; each university or program decides, and many ask for B1–B2 Spanish. In Catalonia, public universities are increasing teaching in Catalan: the target is 80% of teaching hours and 90% of subjects available in Catalan. Check the teaching language of every course, not just the program name. See how this plays out at the University of Barcelona.
A student stay is not residence for tuition purposes. In Madrid, non-EU students without residence pay the higher non-resident rate at public universities, and a study stay does not change that, as at Complutense University of Madrid. The University of Barcelona also does not grant EU prices to students on a study stay for its master's programs. Budget with the international fee.
Official vs university-own degrees. Both título oficial and título propio programs qualify for a study stay and the automatic right to work. If your long-term plan is to stay in Spain after graduation, discuss the degree type with us before you accept an offer — the choice affects more than the diploma name.
Housing in Madrid and Barcelona is expensive. A room in a shared flat costs around €550 a month in Madrid and €600 in Barcelona, against a national average of about €425. A student in a shared room needs roughly €1,100–1,450 a month in these two cities, well above the €600 IPREM minimum. Budget for real costs, not the visa minimum.
Development-aid scholarships block the switch to work. If you study on a development-aid or humanitarian scholarship, such as MAEC-AECID, you cannot switch to a work permit after graduation. Nigerian and Egyptian applicants are eligible for the MAEC-AECID África-Med Máster program; its latest call closed in July.
Documents and legalisation: a checklist for nine destinations
Where an apostille is enough, where consular legalisation is required, and what separate recognition step each destination asks for — with the order of steps and timings.
- The basic document pack needed everywhere
- Apostille or consular legalisation — a table by destination
- Denklik, homologación, CIMEA, NCEQE: what they are and how long they take
- Three mistakes that cost applicants a year
Other study destinations
The same budget buys a different outcome elsewhere — see the other destinations.
Polandfrom €1,500 a year at private universities; medicine from €12,000
Turkeyfrom $500 a year at public, from $4,000 at private universities
UAEabout AED 60,000–80,000 a year at branch campuses
Malaysiaabout RM 35,000–45,000 a year at private universities
Italyfrom €160 a year at public universities (income-based, ISEE)
Hungaryabout €6,000–10,000 a year in English
GeorgiaMD in English: $5,900–6,500 at private, $8,000 at public universities
North Cyprus$4,450–6,400 a year at EMU (public); €2,800–4,500 at private universities after the standard discount
Cyprusabout €9,000–11,820 a year at private universities; medicine €23,000–24,000Send us your admission letter or your shortlist of programs. In a free first consultation, we check which route fits you — consulate or in-country — calculate your IPREM funds, review your insurance policy against consulate rules, and build a filing timeline for your intake. Contact AcademGo via the form, WhatsApp, or Telegram.